The setting sun
sings her lullaby
as she gathers her shadows.
The purple and tangerine train
of her evening’s gown
stretches out above us forever.
We lie together
our bodies pressed so close
no light can peek between
tangled legs
foreheads touching
hands searching
for the heartbeat of the other.
A sigh.
A whisper.
I love you.
Some time before,
perhaps an eternity,
your afternoon anthem began.
Was it at 3?
Or a few minutes past 4?
The day is barely
half lived.
And
There is the sound,
crackling ice
falling into glass,
a hint of something in the air.
One
Clinkity clink
I am the lone witness
as you disappear
Slowly
Two
Clinkity clink
slowly
until you practically stop.
Three
Clinkity clink
Words spoken,
the thinnest thread of conversation,
gets caught
like the weather report
in a loop
as if time moves in circles
instead of a line
and my sanity is questionable.
Didn’t we just say that?
Didn’t we
just
say that?
And
Four
Clink clink.
I reach for you
I reach
and
reach.
through the fog
to find you
sometimes there
sometimes blurred
sometimes a ghost.
Clink
I won’t count
I want to howl
I want to scream
I want to pray
Into the space of nothing
don’t leave
don’t leave.
please don’t leave
again
But,
What is left
is the sentinel of time:
a glass
beaded with the sweat
of melting ice,
the faintest memory of a scent
thrown away by the evening breeze.
Clinkity clink
The setting sun
sings her lullaby
as she
gathers her shadows.
The purple and tangerine train
of her evening’s gown
stretches out above us forever.
I sigh.
I love you.
I love
You.
Clinkity
Clink